Pirates of the Caribbean: the beginning
by danielsmith
Summary: How did Jack become captain of the Black Pearl? Where did he get his compass? A few questions answered about Captain Jack Sparrow.


Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"Daddy, tell me a story." A little boy said to his father as he lay in bed.

"Alright, Jackie. What type of story do you want to hear?"

"A pirate story."

"Alright, alright. Let me see." The man paused as he thought about which story he would tell his son this time. "Have I ever told you the story of the Black Pearl?"

The little boy shook his head. "Alright then, I'll tell you that one. It is a great story. I'm surprised I haven't told you this one. It began way back before pirates had their code. It was a time where it was every pirate for himself. However, there was one pirate that everyone feared. His name has long been forgotten because as scary as the pirate was nothing was more capable of striking fear into the hearts of men than his ship, the Black Pearl. It was the fastest ship that anyone had ever seen. If the ship happened to catch up to you, the crew and captain would take over your ship, take all your supplies, and then kill everyone on board.

Now, Jackie, this went on for many years. Soon people started watching out for the Black Pearl. Whenever the Black Pearl was spotted, all the men on board killed themselves and blew up the ship. This made the captain of the Pearl very upset. He always gave the other ships a fair chance to fight. He just never lost. He knew that he needed to give pirates away to at least counteract his good fighting skills. So he went back to his hideaway, a place called Shipwreck Cove. He had built himself a mansion made entirely out of all the ships that he had captured. Here he would take all the supplies from the ships and store them away. He then went far and wide calling all pirates, be they young or old, rich or poor, male or female, to come to Shipwreck Cove to negociate a rule book for all pirates to follow. Every pirate went because they feared the captain and his ship.

When all the pirates were there, he took the two pirates that he had placed in charge of writing everything down for him and had them write down every suggestion that was made for this new rule book. Those two pirates names were Morgan and Bartholemew. They wrote down every suggestion which were then voted on by all the pirates. Morgan and Bartholemew took the ones that received the most votes and put them into a book with was later called the Code.

All the pirates there had to swear that they would all keep to the Code. Calypso the goddess of the sea saw what the pirates were doing, she made it so that none of the pirates present could forget what was written in the code and that they would pass it on to future generations. After this, the captain of the Pearl chose eight other captains from all the pirate captians. He declared that these eight along with himself would become the nine Pirate Lords. They would divide the world into nine equal parts and each captain would be in charge of making sure that the Code is kept in their region. He told them each to choose something that would be a symbol of their Lordship, something that could easily be passed on to a successor should something happen to them.

Calypso saw the wisdom of the captain of the Pearl and went to him after the meeting. 'I will give you and one other person eternal life for your show of wisdom here tonight.' she told him. He chose a man who he declared to be Keeper of the Code. This man would guard the Code and protect it with his life. But the captain didn't want to live forever. He asked Calypso that instead of him his ship received the gift. 'Let it be that my ship, the Black Pearl, can never be truly destroyed. It can be greatly damaged, but never to the point that there is nothing to save.'

Calypso respected the captain's request and he continued to live his life on his now immortal Black Pearl.

Now time passed and another pirate began to be feared. His name was Davy Jones. He would hunt down pirates and wait until they were near death. When this occured, he would offer them a deal. They could join his crew or they could die. One day he was giving a man this deal. The man said, 'I don't fear death, unless it comes along sailing its black ship with its black sails. My only fear is the Black Pearl.'

This angered Davy Jones. He had heard of this Black Pearl, but had never seen it. He thus began his hunt for the Pearl.

After years of searching for it, Davy Jones finally found it. He then proceeded to attack the ship. After hours of fighting, the captain of the Pearl surrendered. he was the only surviving member of his crew. Davy Jones brought him over to his ship, the Flying Dutchmen, and tied him to the mast forcing him to watch as the Kraken distoryed his fearsome ship.

However, when the Kraken attacked, he could not destroy the ship. The captain of the Pearl laughed as he watched the Kraken attempt to break his ship. Davy Jones saw that it was no use. He asked the captain why his ship couldn't be completely destoryed. The captain told him the story of how Calypso allowed his ship to remain like this because he had created the Code. Upon hearing this Davy Jones did the only thing he could. He released the captain from his bonds and challenged him to a deul. If he was able to give Davy Jones what would be a fatal blow for he could only be killed if stabbed in the heart which he had removed, then he would allow the captain to live. If Davy Jones did then he would die. The captain accepted the challenge and the two began to deul.

For thirty minutes, it seemed that the two were evenly matched. However, it was later noted that the captain of the Pearl was merely joking around with Davy Jones. He quickly did some fancy sword work and stabbed Davy Jones where is heart had once been.

Davy Jones was truly amazed at the man's swordmanship. He was prepared to allow the man to leave his ship when the captain asked him to kill him.

You see, Jackie, the captain of the Pearl had seen and done everything. He had even found the Isla del Muerta which is an island that cannot be found unless you already know where it is. And now he had defeated the most fearsome pirate in the world, second only to himself. He had nothing else to do with his life because he had already done it. So he asked again that Davy Jones kill him.

Davy Jones obliged. After he killed him, he tossed the body over board. He then lowered the Black Pearl into the sea, where no one but he could get it out. The Black Pearl, however, can never truly be destroyed. So it sits at the bottom of the ocean waiting for the day when Davy Jones lifts it back up and gives it to some pirate."

The man leaned back in his chair. "And that, Jackie, is the story of the Black Pearl."

The man looked up at the boy. He could tell that the boy was fast asleep. He got up and silently left the room.

That boy was me. My name is John Sparrow. That night was the last night I saw my father. I was only three.


End file.
